


Rest

by whattheflameo



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, Me: no theyre actually sleeping together, im just on a personal campaign to let these women get some rest, jk i love all versions of kya and lin together yall out there doing the lord's work, like sleeping, other people: Lin and Kya are SlEePiNg ToGeThEr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:30:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28860348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whattheflameo/pseuds/whattheflameo
Summary: It's been a long week. Based on two wonderful pieces of art by @reigncorps on Tumblr.
Relationships: Lin Beifong/Kya II
Comments: 13
Kudos: 90





	Rest

**Author's Note:**

> For reference, here's the first of two pics that gave me every single feel known to humanity: https://reigncorps.tumblr.com/post/640051312291201024/kya-reading-the-kyoshi-series-as-lin-rests-her. I doubt it'll work bc I'm not good at technology so go look them and their art up on the tumblr.

Hey," Kya said, her tone soft as Lin stepped out of the bathroom. The metalbender stared at her and blinked slowly until Kya lifted her upper arm and nodded for her to approach. "It’s reading time; c’mere."  
Reading time. They spent as long as possible reading together on the couch at least once every few days. It was a few moments’ peace for two of the busiest women in the world, a chance to recharge and just be together without having to _do_ anything.  
It was one of Lin’s favorite kinds of moment, and she’d been longing for it so strongly it had made her chest physically ache. She moved across the room and fell onto the couch, settling herself between Kya’s legs with her head resting on one soft thigh. Normally, she would hold her own book or report or what have you in front of her eyes. Today, however, her very bones echoed with exhaustion. The effort it would take to turn a page seemed monumental; the energy required to follow written words even more so.  
It wasn’t about the reading so much as it was about being near Kya, anyway.  
So much had happened this week. So many people had been left without, their spirits dangling mid-air as though they had lost a limb or a half of themself entirely. The very idea of losing Kya that way made her soul want to sob and scream at the sky, and she hadn’t been able to stop that pain from getting to others. She’d long ago constructed a steel wall around herself so that her emotions couldn’t show and affect the persona she had to keep to get her job done, but that didn’t mean they didn’t exist. The weariness wore on her defenses to the point that she could feel the agony of the "what if’s" beating against the inside of her chest.  
It was irrational and after her mind had a chance to slow down she knew she’d be fine. She couldn’t sleep yet. For now, she needed to be close to her wife, to feel her warm and real against her and hold on just in case something tried to take her away.  
She didn’t even have to ask for Kya to begin reading out loud. She did it without being prompted.  
If she were honest, Lin had no idea what Kya was saying. She was tuned out to everything except the familiar timbre of her voice and the had that had begun playing with the hair at the base of her neck. Lin continued staring at the wall across from them, feeling frayed nerves smooth back into place with pass of Kya’s fingers through her hair. Her eyes began to burn as she continued listening. The knowledge that Kya was here and safe, that she always would be here, brought an overwhelming sense of relief. Tears threatened, but they never fell.  
The siren song of Kya’s safe embrace didn’t take long to worm its way into Lin’s chest. Each time her eyes closed, they were that much harder to open again. Eventually, contentment managed to subdue the stress that had been chasing her. For the first time in four days, Lin tumbled off the precipice of deep, well-deserved sleep.  
  
Kya continued her reading for an hour and playing with Lin’s hair even longer, determined not to disturb her wife’s hard-won peace. The fact that Lin was actively willing to rest was a good sign. This week had been draining on every different level, but Kya’s part of it at the hospital had finished days before. Lin had only just been freed.  
She stopped playing with her hair for just a moment, subconsciously distracted by a thickening plot in her book. Lin let out a soft, plaintive whine in her sleep, and Kya immediately resumed the motion.  
Her gaze fell to Lin for a moment, distracted from her reading. The younger woman’s face lost a good twenty years when relaxed like this, frown lines fading to faint echoes across slack features. Slow, even breaths flowed in and out of her mouth, which had fallen open. Kya knew she’d be lucky if her wife didn’t start drooling. Lin’s outer arm clutched at Kya’s leg like a comfort object, holding tight even into unconsciousness. It wasn’t uncommon for Lin to fall asleep when they spent reading time in this position, just like Kya was prone to doing when she was sitting across Lin’s lap and circled by strong arms. Her heart swelled every time she considered that Lin may feel as safe in this position as Kya did in the other.  
She stayed on the couch, placed protectively above her wife, until long after the sun set and the room became too dim to read. It was only once she felt the threat of drifting off herself that she decided it was worth it to risk moving Lin.  
She’d treated newborns with less care than she did Lin as she slipped out from beneath her and gathered her wife into her arms. When they were both fully cognizant, Lin adamantly refused to be coddled or carried in any way; it was always her carrying Kya.  
Trapped by the spirits of rest, Lin gave none of her normal protests. More than anything, the diminutive woman resembled an exhausted child as she turned her face into the warmth of Kya’s neck. In turn, Kya tucked her into her side of their bed, slipping one of her own pillows between Lin’s arms when she made a distressed sound.  
"Shhh, darling. Shhh." She combed her fingers through Lin’s hair again, letting them slip down to rub at the spot between Lin’s shoulder blades that nearly always coaxed her into sleep. Before the threat of waking ever truly made itself known, she was out like a light again. Kya tucked the comforter securely under her chin and stood.  
She kept as quiet as possible going through her evening routine. There was no pretending that Lin would have remained asleep if she hadn’t been exhausted beyond comprehension, so Kya thanked whatever spirits were listening for allowing her wife to continue sleeping. Once she was in her own pajamas, she slipped into bed herself. Ever-so-gently, she tugged the pillow from what had become a death-grip in Lin’s arms. Lin had but a moment to frown before Kya tugged her closer to let her own body replace the lost comfort object. Lin gave a content, sleepy little snuffle and settled into her chest. The sound ran circles around Kya’s heart.  
Kya could feel sleep edging in on her. For the first time in days, it was welcome and gentle rather than the physical necessity she’d been plagued by. She’d always hated sleeping alone, and it had only become worse after she and Lin had gotten together. Having her back brought with it the same sense of completion that came with reaching the top of a mountain or finding herself in the middle of the sea, or with finishing a beloved book or a project she’d undertaken. Like the pieces had all come together and everything was _right_. Lulled by the gentle sounds of Lin’s breathing and the warm weight in her arms, Kya too descended into real, blissful sleep for the first time in days.


End file.
